cat treats

It’s the time of year when everyone is making wish lists and gift guides and I swear it’s catching. When I think about such things though, my mind immediately goes to fancy things I’d like to get for my cats. Which possibly means I’m a crazy person. In any case, I thought I’d share some of my favorite, sometimes extravagant, cat presents I’ve been fawning over.

1. I know Meeme would go nuts over this crocheted jellyfish cat toy.

2. This mid-century styled cat furniture looks nice enough to double as regular furniture.

3. I’m really into this cat teepee but would probably make my own version.

4. This is the nicest looking cat tree ever. I’m not sure who came up with the idea to cover cat trees in the ugliest carpet but we collectively need to put a stop to it. Let’s start here.

5. And perhaps something to show off your cat love like this crazy cat sweater.

Brainwashed Love is here

Once upon a time Shawn and I made a feature film. If you’ve been around these parts for awhile you’ve surely heard me mention it. We’ve considered many avenues for distribution and came to the conclusion that mostly we just wanted people to be able to see it. So finally we’ve released it online and you can watch it on vimeo.

This is the final director’s cut which is slightly different from what we showed at our previous screenings. I think it’s the best version of course. I’m really excited to hear what you all think.

We made this film before kickstarter and crowdfunding was a thing so it was completely self-funded. If you like what you see, feel free to leave us a tip on vimeo.

So, without further ado, I present BRAINWASHED LOVE for your viewing pleasure.

BRAINWASHED LOVE – Feature Film – 2011 from Shawn Bannon on Vimeo.

holiday cards

With the cool weather finally here in Los Angeles, I’m finally getting in the celebratory mood. While I’m not quite ready for holiday shopping and crafting, I’ve already begun my search for holiday cards to make sure I get them in time to send to friends and family. Perhaps I learned this the hard way last year when our cards did not quite make it out in time.

So forgive me if this this much too early in your holiday timeline but here are a few cards I’m liking a lot.

1. Snowflake Specimens
2. Evergreen
3. Happy Holidays
4. Birch Season’s Greetings
5. Holly Wreath Goose

halloweens

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Hope everyone has a spooky All Hallows Eve filled with candy, black cats, pumpkins and ghosts. And possibly a little bit of pumpkin spice ice cream.

Halloween Movie Massacre 5

It’s that time of year again, time for our annual Halloween Movie Marathon. In fact, this was our 5th year (be sure to check out some of the past years), and we clocked in at a full 24 hours straight of horror movies.

While I usually go nuts with food, I tried to keep things simple, preparing desserts the night before, and designing the rest to be easy to make by popping in the oven. For sweets I made my favorite pumpkin spice cake and some bone shaped sugar cookies (and a sad version of the classic ghosts). Our friend Scott made a vegan King Cake which was super exciting for me.

On the savory side, I made buffalo cauliflower and giant pot of macaroni and cashew cheese. Shawn set up a hot dog station with all the trimmings. We also had French bread pizzas at some point and lots of chips and queso and popcorn and even caramel popcorn. Alas, I have no photos as photography is difficult during dark screenings.

In the morning, I made a bunch of breakfast sandwiches modeled after the Badass Breakfast Sandwich from Locali: maple dipped English muffins, vegan sausage, cheddar Daiya and spicy mayo. They were a hit, and will certainly be a staple in our home for weekends to come.

For decor we opted for lots of creepy lighting and a few key horror elements. I filled terrariums with vegetable specimens and jars of candy were labeled as disturbing fare. We had a handful of skulls and a bunch of pumpkins. One of the most exciting pieces was a drink dispenser held up by boney hands, a Halloween gift given especially for this event. We of course filled it with cold brewed coffee to keep the movie watchers awake. I also painted a few Halloween themed masks just for fun.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again but watching endless horror films without sleep does very strange things to your mind. It’s no surprise we found ourselves walking down dark hallways with axes, doing zombie crawls across the floor or drilling holes in someone’s skull. No surprise at all.

Ready for what we watched? Here’s the list:

1. Carrie
2. Near Dark
3. The Descent
4. Triangle
5. Ginger Snaps
6. Poltergeist
7. The Woman in Black
8. Phenomena
9. The Loved Ones
10. Final Destination
11. The Omen
12. We Are the Night